Sandstorm: A Sigma Force Novel, Book 1

An inexplicable explosion rocks the antiquities collection of a London museum and the race begins to determine how it happened, why it happened, and what it means. Lady Kara Kensington's family paid a high price in money and blood to found the gallery that now lies in ruins. Her search for answers leads Kara and her friend Safia al-Maaz, the gallery's curator, into a world they never dreamed existed.

Excavation

High in the Andes, Dr. Henry Conklin discovers a 500-year-old mummy that should not be there. While deep in the South American jungle, Conklin's nephew, Sam, stumbles upon a remarkable site nestled between two towering peaks, a place hidden from human eyes for thousands of years. Ingenious traps have been laid to ensnare the careless and unsuspecting, and wealth beyond imagining could be the reward for those with the courage to face the terrible unknown.

Amazonia

The Rand scientific expedition entered the lush wilderness of the Amazon and never returned. Years later, one of its members has stumbled out of the world's most inhospitable rainforest - a former Special Forces soldier, scarred, mutilated, terrified, and mere hours from death, who went in with one arm missing...and came out with both intact.

Subterranean

Travel to the bottom of the earth...to a place you never dreamed existed. Beneath the ice...a hand-picked team of specialists makes its way toward the center of the world. They are not the first to venture into this magnificient subterranean labyrinth. Those they follow did not return....

Ice Hunt

Carved into a moving island of ice twice the size of the United States, Ice Station Grendel has been abandoned for more than 70 years. The twisted brainchild of the finest minds of the former Soviet Union, it was designed to be inaccessible and virtually invisible. But an American undersea research vessel has inadvertently pulled too close - and something has been sighted moving inside the allegedly deserted facility, something whose survival defies every natural law.

Deep Fathom

Ex-Navy SEAL Jack Kirkland surfaces from an aborted underwater salvage mission to find the Earth burning. Solar flares have triggered a series of gargantuan natural disasters. Earthquakes and hellfire rock the globe. Air Force One has vanished from the skies with America’s president on board. Now, with the US on the narrow brink of a nuclear apocalypse, Kirkland must pilot his oceangoing exploration ship, Deep Fathom, on a desperate mission miles below the ocean’s surface.

Altar of Eden: A Novel

A master at combining heart-stopping suspense and scientific intrigue, New York Times best-selling author James Rollins returns with a thrilling adventure like no other--a shocking story of cruel genetic experiments done in the name of national security and, most disturbing of all, tied to a secret history of the Book of Genesis.

City of Screams: A Short Story Exclusive

In the haunted, war-torn highlands of Afghanistan, amid the ruins of Shahr-e-Gholghol, an archaeology team is massacred in the night. Sergeant Jordan Stone and his crack forensic team are called in to examine the site, to hunt for the perpetrators of this horrific act. But the discovery of a survivor - a child of 10 - will shatter all the team knows about life and death.

The Templar Legacy

The ancient order of the Knights Templar possessed untold wealth and absolute power over kings and popes until the Inquisition, when they were wiped from the face of the earth, their hidden riches lost. But now two forces vying for the treasure have learned that it is not at all what they thought it was, and its true nature could change the modern world.

Earthcore

EarthCore is the company with the technology, the resources, and the guts to go after the mother lode. Young executive Connell Kirkland is the company's driving force, pushing himself and those around him to uncover the massive treasure. But at three miles below the surface, where the rocks are so hot they burn bare skin, something has been waiting for centuries. Waiting...and guarding. Kirkland and EarthCore are about to find out first-hand why this treasure has never been unearthed.

The Third Secret

Fatima, Portugal, 1917: The Virgin Mary appears to three peasant children, sharing with them three secrets, two of which are soon revealed to the world. The third secret is sealed away in the Vatican, read only by popes, and not disclosed until the year 2000. When revealed, its quizzical tone and anticlimactic nature leave many faithful wondering if the Church has truly unveiled all of the Virgin Mary's words, or if a message far more important has been left in the shadows.

Monster Hunter International

Five days after Owen Zastava Pitt pushed his insufferable boss out of a 14th story window, he woke up in the hospital with a scarred face, an unbelievable memory, and a job offer. It turns out that monsters are real. All the things from myth, legend, and B-movies are out there, waiting in the shadows. Some of them are evil, and some are just hungry. Monster Hunter International is the premier eradication company in the business. And now Owen is their newest recruit.

Ramsey's Gold

When a forgotten journal materializes decades after Drake Ramsey's father vanished in the Amazon jungle, Drake decides to follow in his footsteps and search for the legendary treasure of the Inca empire hidden in the lost Inca city of Paititi.

The Gray Man

Court Gentry is known as The Gray Man - a legend in the covert realm, moving silently from job to job, accomplishing the impossible, and then fading away. And he always hits his target. But there are forces more lethal than Gentry in the world. And in their eyes, Gentry has just outlived his usefulness. Now, he is going to prove that for him, there's no gray area between killing for a living-and killing to stay alive.

Deep Storm

Former naval doctor Peter Crane is summoned to a remote oil platform in the North Atlantic to help diagnose a bizarre medical condition. But when he arrives, Crane learns that the real trouble lies far below on "Deep Storm", a stunningly advanced science-research facility built two miles beneath the surface on the ocean floor. The top-secret structure has been designed for one purpose: to excavate a recently discovered undersea site that may hold the answers to an ancient mystery.

The Secret Chapel: God's Lions Series, Book 1

Summoned to Rome by an old friend, a Jesuit scholar finds himself using a code discovered in the Bible to unearth an ancient, hidden chapel in the catacombs under the city. When a rogue force of Vatican security officials are alerted to his discovery, the priest flees to the Holy Land with a clue...a clue that will lead him and a team of Israeli Christians to a much larger secret in the middle of the barren Negev Desert.

Without Remorse

His work for the CIA is brilliant, cold-blooded, and efficient, but who is he? In a harrowing tour de force, phenomenally best-selling author Tom Clancy shows how an ordinary man named John Kelly crossed the lines of justice and morality to become the CIA legend known as Mr. Clark. It is an unforgettable journey into the heart of darkness, without mercy - without remorse.

Publisher's Summary

High in Nepal, a monastery erupts with savagery and madness. Deep in a German mine, abomination wears the innocent face of a child. Hidden in the jungles of Africa, experiments rooted in a dark past have found fertile ground again.

Across the frozen peaks of the Himalayas to the diamond fields of the Congo, from the subterranean labs of a lost era to the bright halls of the Smithsonian, Sigma Force will face its most cunning adversaries, its most daunting challenges, and its most dire threat. The very future of mankind will belong to the victor.

For any hope of success, Painter Crowe must make a pact like no other: to align Sigma Force with an old enemy, one beyond redemption. And it will be up to Commander Gray Pierce to find the balance between salvation and damnation, even if it means sacrificing those closest to him. Still, victory is far from certain, for there are riddles that even the greatest minds were never meant to solve.

What the Critics Say

"This is Cussler and Ludlum territory with a dash of Dan Brown, sure to please devotees of any of these authors." (Publishers Weekly) "Why Hollywood hasn't snapped his books up yet is a mystery." (Booklist)

"Black Order" is a wonderful combination of suspense, history, intrigue, terror, and science. I hate using terms like "on the edge of my seat", but that pretty well describes the experience for me.

Fortunately, a scientific background is not necessary to appreciate fully it, as it provides just enough of a sprinkling of scientific fact to make the story plausible. Some of the precepts really make you think, and, if you want to learn more, Rollins provides a short bibliography at the end.

I found the plot twists unexpected (although, in truth, I don't spend much time trying to figure out "what's going to happen" -- I prefer to be surprised). I also found the characters realistic and believable, especially the "bad guys".

Grover Gardner's performance was exceptional, helping to bring the many and varied characters to life, making them seem 3-dimensional. The pace was perfect, as he slowed his rhythm during some of the scientific explanations, giving me that little extra time to absorb them. He also nicely sped up some of the action scenes, adding to the suspense and excitement of the story.

I rated it five stars, and I think James Rollins' story and Grover Gardner's reading earn every one of them.

Coming away disappointed from DeMille's latest "Wild Fire" I landed here and this book has a plot that works, and is based on historical events. The plot simultaneously takes place in several locations around the world including South Africa and starts off at Everest. The story is what held me, and I actually prefer Grover as a narrator and have no problems with his narration it added to the book for me. I was particularly pleased with the scientific mysteries intertwined including the tug between Einstein's theory of relativity and quantum physics. The mystery of the retreat of the Germans and the lost infant detailed in the first chapter is revealed at the end just when you think you have it all, a suprise ending. I loved it.

This is a very good book with an interesting plot... worth a listen. The narrator has a clear authoritative voice. For a book to be 5 stars it has to keep you in the car when it is time to leave the garage. This book did not meet that criteria.

I found James Rollins' work quite by accident. New to Aubible.com and wanting to try new authors, I downloaded The Judas Strain, and was hooked. I love the way Rollins starts you off with some peice of factual history and then weaves the story around it, very much like Dan Brown did with Angels and Demons and Davinci Code. The way he manages multiple threads through the story is great. If you like Dan Brown and Tom Clancy, you'll probably like this as well.

Years ago I picked up a James Rollins' book for a long flight overseas. Since that time I have become a huge fan of his books. A good description of his books' story lines would be a secret agent uses archeology and the past to save the present world. This is another Sigma Force Novel that uses some of the past characters again to tell such a story. Revealing a dark Nazi experiment from the past you get caught up adventure that takes the characters all over the globe. This is one of the best "listens" for James Rollins. I don't think you will be disappointed.

Didn't think too much of this book at the beginning, but eventually the plot thickened and I was caught trying to figure out what was happening and trying to tie everything together. Narration was good and the end leaves you with a bit of a question.

Where does Black Order rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top 15 maybe even better

What was one of the most memorable moments of Black Order?

Hard to say I hate spoilers so I will just say the castles.

Which character – as performed by Grover Gardner – was your favorite?

Lisa

Any additional comments?

Grover Gardner is fantastic reading this book I wish this was not his one and only reading in this series, if your reading this review to get opinions on narration for this audio book don't hesitate it is wonderful nothing is forced and the female voices are great.

When a doctor attempts to summit Mount Everest, a weather delay at a lower camp and her desire to help ill residents of a monastery lead her into the middle of a plot to.....well, I don't want to spoil the story. Let's just say that she ends up running for her life, working with the Sigma Force team.

The Sigma Force novels are fast becoming a favorite for me. The seamless blend of historical facts with exciting action, secret government agencies and environmental issues in many cases, make for a wonderful story.

I like the evolution of the characters from book to book although you could read only one without being lost in the back story. Each story takes you to a different parts of the world painting a lovely action packed picture.